Logo Design Article at Entrepreneur Magazine

Entrepreneur Magazine's "20 Logos We Love" and why....

"The 20 logos showcased on the following pages were thoughtfully crafted with unique characteristics and wit that lend them eye-catching appeal and longevity. Let them be an inspiration as you create the public face of your own organization." http://entm.ag/15NqQA8

Blog Gadget #2...Polling around!

Added a poll today! I decided to ask my fellow classmates what their ultimate goal was in pursing their Albright degree. I guess that is a bit boring, but I am just wondering, okay nosy as to whether others are making a "later in life" career change as well! At this point, most checked for advancement or career change; however, one person selected the "other" category. I hope I get the opportunity to find out what "other" meant. Unfortunately the poll setup did not allow for write in answers.

So far I have answered these polls: one on Oreo cookies (yum!) my dream vacation, favorite literary genre, how long will it take for the USPS to close, how I take my coffee, how I get my news, my happy place, what super power I would like to have, how I access the Internet, favorite wireless, and favorite food! Looks like we are getting close to completing all of our polls. I don't know about everyone else, but I think my poll question reflects my interest which is education. I really enjoyed the wide variety of questions from everyone. I had so many favorite poll questions, but deciding what superpower I would like to have was funny, yet interesting. This is something I can honestly say I have never thought about!

This gadget was troublesome at times. Results did not show and a scroll bar appears at times. There is no way to adjust font and size of the poll. I did however try to change the overall width of the blog and columns, but in the end I did not want to compromise the layout to accommodate the poll.

Week #2 Blog Post from homework

If you want to take a photo that you took off your 8 mega pixel camera and place it on a website you will need to do the following. First you will need to transfer the image from your camera into your computer. Then open an image editing program such as PhotoShop Elements and import the image into the program. The actual size of the photo will depend on what camera settings were used. The finest settings will produce the largest photos.  Before you do anything to the photo, save this as a PSD "source" file so that you will have the photo without any changes. Make a copy of the photo. It is best to turn off the original photo by clicking the eye on the left side of the original photo in the layering pallet. To resize the photo, go to image, and resize. Constrain proportions and resample image boxes should be checked so the resized photo is not distorted. Resolution should be set at 72 dpi for web, 300 for print. Duplicate layer, take the crop tool, drag and crop out the tourists in the photo by selecting only the area that you want in your photo. If you need to make any further adjustments, make a new adjustment layer and apply techniques such as sharpening, brightening etc. Re-save this photo in the PSD format named with changes. Next we want to "save it for the web" as a jpeg using medium compression. This is so the image is the appropriate size for the screen as well as loading time. Image size can also depend on on where it is uploaded, as there can be maximum pixel and file size. If making changes to size, be sure to check "constrain proportions" so there is no distortion. At this point the jpg file is ready to be uploaded into your web program. The goal of all web graphics/photo is to have reasonable quality, at the smallest file size, and that loads quickly.

Typography--Readability vs legibility?

First, I love typography. I have books solely devoted to the art of typography. Unfortunately, I remember little since I switched my focus from design to Organizational Behavior. At one time though, I had to upgrade my home computer to accommodate my font collection!

Bad typography can ruin the best print/web material. Sometimes people can get caught up with fun and fancy fonts, placement, and size without realizing that the words are not legible and/or readable. Typography is a true "art" all on its own!

• Readability is about how a lot of text is viewed and considers factors such as size, contrast, bolding, italics, and avoiding long lines of text. In print, a simple serif face is best.

• Legibility refers to shorter areas of text such as headlines, button text etc which are generally best with sans serif font. These are fonts without the little tails on the end. Short "bursts" of text should not be in all caps. While serif fonts are nice for print, sans serif are actually clearer to read.  

It is important to understand that not every font on the computer is good for the web. There are in fact a number of web safe fonts that are generally on all computers. If you make a web page with a special font, you risk others not being able to view the page as you view it. If a computer does not have the font specified, it will substitute and the results can be dramatic, and usually poor. Likewise, monitor resolutions will effect the how big or small text appears.The best way to achieve consistency is to use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). CSS will allow you to name, and define all of the formatting which can be applied or changed easily to text selections. While not all browsers support the standardized css code, basic typographic controls in css are generally recognized. In the end, designing for web or print, the ultimate goal is that what you have created is easy to read and understand.

Week#1 Blog Post from homework

Now more than ever, graphic design is everywhere. Effective design grabs the reader and directs the reader to the desired goal. There are both advantages and disadvantage to print vs web design. Most importantly, print design can be cost prohibitive. One aspect of print that has always been difficult for me was the limitation of the four-color process. When design was just beginning on the computer, adding RGB and the conversion to CMYK for print was a nightmare. In print, a mistake could lose a client in terms of inconvenience and cost. In web, a mistake is corrected without the negative side effects of print. Likewise, the interactivity of web design, and ability to reach large audiences quickly, and relatively inexpensive, is a great advantage (providing the intended consumer has the appropriate hardware). While the book states print is more portable, with books, newspapers, and other media available on phones, laptops, e-readers, etc., I think that argument is losing. While hardware is necessary, accessibility is becoming more and more available to a very large segment of the population, and content is available using free applications. The drawback still though is whether or not content is reliably available both in download to the device and readability. And that is where print always wins!

Quiz pg. 112:

1. Print/Web

• Annual reports are usually confidential, and this is one report that you would want to make sure everyone was reading the same content the way it was designed. Not all stockholders may use digital devices. Although, I would also make this available in PDF format especially if the company was public or in an intranet if private.

2. Print/Web

• This question does not indicate they type of job the person wants. If applying for print designer, then I would send a sample of print work, but if the job was for digital design, then a digital sample would be more important. If the applicant wanted to reach a large audience though, a four-color brochure would be expensive, so perhaps the web would be more cost effective

3. Web

• Most people expect to be notified about software updates through the web. This is a cost effective way of reaching your intended customer base.

4. Web

• Reaching large audiences often can be costly if done in print. This would require more than likely a secure log-in type situation for information that clients pay for.

5. Web

• There are so many places on the web that a teacher could self publish information for students/clients which could be free or even paid content. Small publishing jobs in print would be too costly, and would additionally involve distribution costs.

6. Web

•  Once again, a large amount of work can be displayed quite easily and inexpensively in some form of an online portfolio. The key here for me is probably the amount and security. Artists I know have had their artwork photographed and others have used commercial scanners. I have worked with both types of art digitally and although the files are large, to my eye at least, it was clear to me how beautiful the art was. Once a portfolio is online, having a time and/or place to see the art in person if desired could then be arranged. The art will need to be protected as well.

The video's on "Exploring Web Design" are a nice primer to begin this course. Although I am somewhat familiar with design, the most important aspect of web vs print that was pointed out was the fact that the user has the ability to change how the content is viewed. The videos remind me that design for print is not the same as designing for web. Site load time, usability, readability, and many different interfaces that are in use today are serious considerations. Because the experience can be quite different for a variety of reasons, designing is more difficult than a static print design where everyone is viewing the same output.

Good web design takes time, practice, and knowledge. In addition, the field is forever fluid with changes occurring in technology daily. The concept of understanding what is beneath web design also reminded me when I was an accountant, during the years when it was common to computerize. Understanding how accounting works was critical so that we could identify that what was coming out of the computer was accurate.

While there are many ways to get content out in web easily, and for the most part accurately, (IE: pre-designed templates and blogs), the best design comes from those who have mastered the art and are able to write their own code, and use web tools to the fullest extent.

My favorite activity this week was the Good, the Bad and the Ugly! Years ago when I was trying to learn how to design, I would keep a file of print that I liked and disliked. I would use these examples for ideas, and to remind myself of what not to do! It is quite funny that once these design elements were pointed out, I never looked at ads the same way again!

The Search for a Blog Style...

I have spent more time trying to set this dang blog up. For some reason I am not satisfied with much of what I have done. So late last night, I may have found one I like. I have been going back and forth on my mobile device and tablet too. I tend to be a bit compulsive in design. No one makes me more mad at myself than me! At any rate, tried a few gadgets, layouts, fonts, and color schemes. Placed the class blog roll and visited the class blogs. I like all of them, very colorful! I also liked Scott's raindrop background with drops on both background, and foreground in the design.

Decided to do one more change to the background, once again! I need a bit of peace in my life right now, so when I saw the sailboats, done! LOVE sailing, and miss it terribly! There, I'm ready!

A Few Hours at Chiques Rock

There is nothing better than spending time in nature to reconnect. The sun was warm, finally, and it was breezy, but the sounds of birds chirping, and water lapping the shore, was complete and total therapy. Even the rock climbers looked peaceful from where we stood.  It has been a long winter despite what the groundhog predicted. Today was my first day of spring!



First Post

It has been a fun night of CRAP web design! Enjoying what we have learned so far and really happy to be doing something creative. After months and months of psychology, this is truly a great break!